Quebec City (AFP) – Tadej Pogacar says a 47-day break since his latest Tour de France triumph has left him rested and ready to launch his build up to the world championships with two races in Canada. The 26-year-old Slovenian crushed his rivals to collect a fourth Tour de France title, but opted out of the Vuelta a Espana to recover and will return to action in Friday’s Quebec Grand Prix before tackling the Montreal Grand Prix on Sunday.
“It’s my first race back after the Tour, so I will have to see how my legs are turning,” he told reporters in Quebec on Wednesday, noting that late-season fatigue was nothing new. “It’s like every year,” he said. “It’s always difficult to be in good shape at the end of the season, but I have some motivation left for the six races I have left. I hope my peak will be at the world championships. The championships are the main goal of this part of the season,” added Pogacar, who will be defending his title in the world championship road race in Rwanda on September 28.
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He will also compete in the September 21 world championship time trial, where he hopes to challenge two-time defending champion Remco Evenepoel of Belgium. “I trained quite a few trainings on the TT bike,” he said. “It was more than usual. We will see how it will go in the world championships … I always like the discipline, but you need to have a great day on the spot.”
Pogacar’s biggest challengers in Canada are expected to be Belgians Wout Van Aert and Arnaud De Lie. While he has claimed victory twice in Montreal, in 2022 and 2024, he has never won in Quebec, where he finished seventh last year when he was reeled in by the peloton at the top of Montagne Hill, just a few hundred meters from the finish line. This year the roller-coaster finishes of recent editions have been replaced by steady ascent of two kilometers before the finish line.
“I think in general it can be easier, but the final sprint will be, I think, harder than the previous edition,” he said. After the two Canadian classics and the world championships, Pogacar still has the European Championships in Drome-Ardeche, where he will only compete in the October 5 road race before wrapping up the season at the Tour of Lombardy a week later, which he has won for the last four years.
© 2024 AFP
